Nerdy Field Trips Are The Best Kind!

I know this is kind of nerdy, but one of my favorite field trips was the junior model un trip. A few weeks (or a few days :) ) before the event, each person gets a country and an issue. They have to research what their country's ideologies are for that specific issue and write a position paper. It seems boring, but I think it's pretty fun.


At the event, we collaborate with students from different schools and concur to create international solutions to our issues.



You may be wondering what part of this I get most excited for. Maybe you're not wondering this. If you aren't, you might be pretty irate when I say, "Too bad, I'm telling you anyway!" :)

My favorite part is meeting new people who you get to share your information and research with, and becoming friends with people you had only met because their country had similar ideas to yours. However, the part I get most excited about is my binder.

We get a black, half inch binder to keep our papers in for this project, and in case you don't know this already, I have a bit of a school supply obsession. I start studying for school supply shopping (which I do in August) in March or April. I watch YouTube videos, research on websites, and create spreadsheets to prepare for my favorite day of the year. I know, I know. I'm crazy.

Anyway, I always decorate and organize my binder extensively and I alway get so excited about it.



I apologize again for the lack of actual pictures. I think it might be the computer I'm using. I'll try to change the pictures later if I can.

My Favorite Movie

 A funny classic from 1998, "Parent Trap" is a movie that will both make you laugh and warm your heart. This film is an updated version of the original "Parent Trap" from 1961 and stars an eleven year old Lindsay Lohan.

(Warning: This movie review will be very vague because I don't want to give anything away.)

"Parent Trap" is about two girls, Annie from London and Hallie from California, who make a surprising discovery when they meet at summer camp in New England that will change their lives forever. The movie documents their journey as they work together to sabotage he life of an "evil almost stepmother" in order to complete their mission together. 

WARNING: THE NEXT PART CONTAINS SPOILERS. PLEASE STOP READING AND GO WATCH THE MOVIE IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET, IT'S AMAZING!!!!!!!!

I really liked this movie. One of the reasons I liked it was because of the rollercoaster of emotion the viewers experience while watching it. I was laughing so hard that my stomach hurt during the scene where Hallie and Annie repeatedly prank Meredith during the camping trip. I could feel the love when Hallie's dad and Annie's mom were looking at the wine collection together. I could feel the tension whenever Annie and Hallie talked to Meredith.

This is a great movie and I highly recommend it to anyone with feelings :)

No Words To Describe An Emotion

The definition of music is the following, "vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion".

But to me, music is more than that. Music isn't only a sound, it's a feeling, a way of life. A really amazing song can make you feel something that cannot be described by words, cannot be understood unless experienced.


I have been singing my entire life, and I don't intend to stop. As I say to myself when I doubt this, "I will never shut up." (Sorry Mrs. Joyner, I know I shall not ever say that. :) )

If I tell somebody repeatedly that I like a song, I don't like the song. It means that I am living the song. "What does that even mean?" You may ask. When I am "living"music, I feel as though I am somehow connected to the song. I am constantly singing, and when I'm not singing out loud, I'm playing the music over and over in my head.

 You may think you have experienced this obsession, but you probably haven't. I don't mean that in an exclusive way, I'm just trying to explain this feeling to the best of my ability. Usually this is most common in musicians.

My current music lifestyle revolves around Dear Evan Hansen. It's an amazing musical currently on Broadway, and here are the reasons, that I can put into words, why it's wonderful.

1. Ben Platt is amazing. (He also went to Camp Ramah. I go to Camp Ramah. We're practically best friends.)
2. The voices are indescribably phenomenal.
3. The story is inspiring and the song lyrics are something many teens can relate to.

I'm running out of adjectives.

I wish the tickets weren't so expensive so I could see the show!

Anyway, music is pretty cool. :)

Tweet Less, Think More

Many people hate President Donald Trump. For this blog post, many people are going to criticize his every move. My blog post isn't going to be like that because insults won't improve anything. My criticism will be as constructive as possible. These are a few do's and don't's for our new president.

 The first thing that President Trump should do is think more. Some of his ideas make sense, but they all go wrong because he forgets to add a certain guideline, or doesn't think the whole thing through thoroughly enough. 

 Apologize! If you recognize that you have done or said something wrong, it is important to apologize. Apologies do not show weakness. In fact, apologies are a sign of maturity. Please, at least pretend to be mature.

The last "do" is to be informed. If you appear to be intelligent, more people will take you seriously. There are two resources I highly recommend. The first is the Ben Shapiro show. It is a podcast with conservative Ben Shapiro, an extremely intelligent person who is also phenomenal at debating. (Click here to listen to his podcasts.) The second is Prager University. This is a YouTube channel with educational videos from a conservative point of view. You may not be able to view them if you have restricted mode on your device, but there is nothing inappropriate about them. They are perfect for anybody wanting to learn more about political issues. (Click here for the PragerU website.) 

One "don't" for Donald Trump relates to Twitter. There is no need to tweet whenever somebody insults you. There is absolutely no reason to respond to every tiny comment you receive. When you're famous, people will hate you, that's just how it is. Responding to all of them is only escalating the issue.

   

Ukuleles Are Tiny Guitars

Imagine yourself sitting on green grass on a warm, sunny day under a big, shady, green tree. You are gently strumming the strings of a ukulele as you lightly sing along. You are happy.

This is how I felt at camp this past summer, as I tried out this beautiful instrument for the first time. I had heard about people I knew trying it the year before, but I hadn't had the courage to try out this instrument until then. I loved playing the uke. I don't like calling it that though. I don't know why.

This is a gift I wanted this year. The only gift on my mind was my very own ukulele with a case, capo, finger picks, and some way of learning it. Although I began to learn it at camp, I only had two weeks of lessons.

I have had my ukulele for four days already and I can't stop playing it. I have been practicing for around an hour each day I have had it and I just can't get enough.

There are two reasons that I think may explain why I love playing my tiny guitar so much.

The first is the reason I had kept in mind all along: playing an instrument is fun and it lets me finally escape from singing a cappella. (Though I do love a cappella)

But another amazing benefit is something I hadn't realized going into it.

I am not taking ukulele lessons. I'm teaching myself. It's very surprising how easy it is. I just print out the chords to a song, and look up how to play the chords on my chord chart. Then I know four chords, which can potentially lead me to hundreds of songs. I can only imagine how much I will know when I learn more chords. It is a very rewarding experience to be able to teach yourself a certain skill and figure it out all by yourself.

I love my ukulele and I'm very excited to learn as much as I can!

A-B-I-G-A-I-WHAT? (The real one)

AHHH! I posted the wrong version of this! Sorry! I fixed the one with the bullet points, but I never saved it, so here is the good post.

I know you want me to say, "My name is the Southwest Northern-eastern European language for peace, and it symbolizes the long journey my Great-great-grandmother made from Mauilahanolili, a small town in the country of Hoobidyshlabidy on Mars."

But unfortunately, that's not quite what happened.

My great-grandmother. I would have liked to know her. A kind, compassionate woman who loved her grandchildren more than anything else in the world.

Betty was her name. My middle name, Bayla, came from her name.

At school, some people say it like it's garbage. They say it as if they were holding it with their index finger and thumb as they carried it to the trash can to try to rid themselves of the overwhelming stench.

But in my house, my name is a song, a wonderful word to describe myself, a good thing. I like to focus on this one. :)

I like my name, and I have no interest in changing it even if I could. If I had to I would change it to Emily, but that would only be if there was no other option, and I couldn't find any loopholes. If I was a boy I would be Ben. If I wasn't Abby I would be Rachel. But, I like my name and I'm proud of it, too. :)

How Does A Homework DOING Machine Turn Into A Homework GIVING Machine?

I have been asked to write about what job in a school I would be best at. This post will be a bit similar to my "Where I see myself in 10 years" post.

     I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, (I think I have) but I want to be an elementary school teacher when I grow up. I have known this ever since I started going to school, and I recently narrowed it down to either third or fifth grade.

     I want to do this because I love to help people, spend time around little kids, and help others learn.

     We recently took a quiz in class about what strengths, or gifts, we had, and how we could use them. We rated how much we liked a specific activity from one to five, and we added our scores up at the end.

     My lowest score for a category was 8 out of 15, and my highest was 14. I had four categories that got either a fourteen or thirteen, and they all are important traits of a teacher. I will share them with you now.


Interpersonal (people):  This is definitely important for a teacher, since I would be interacting with a lot of people daily

Body-Kinesthetic: Being a teacher, especially an elementary school teacher, I need to move around a lot, so this is very important.

Musical-Rhythmic: This one is a bit of a stretch, but some teachers use songs to help their students remember information.

Verbal-Linguistic: Teachers talk a lot, so good speaking and communication skills are important.